President Linda A. Livingstone, Ph.D.

Transcript

Derek Smith:
Hello and welcome to Baylor Connections, a conversation series with the people shaping our future. Each week we go in depth with Baylor leaders, professors, and more, discussing important topics in higher education, research and student life. I'm Derek Smith, and today we are visiting with President Livingstone. It's been another exciting year here at Baylor. Hard to believe this semester is winding down, but we're going to talk about commencement season. Baylor University honors a sneak preview ahead a little bit as we look forward to a new strategic plan, summer plans, and more here at Baylor. Well, President Livingstone, I know it's a busy time. Thanks so much for taking the time to join us on the program, as always.

President Livingstone:
Well, always good to be with you, Derek, and excited about the end of the year and all that we have ahead. So appreciate the opportunity to talk about it today.

Derek Smith:
Well, as we are, as we're talking and as this is airing, and you are getting ready... In fact, actually as this airs, you might actually be involved in commencement. So let's start with that. We see you up on stage, but where else does commencement weekend take you that you enjoy being?

President Livingstone:
Well, the weekend is so busy because we have four graduations, so there's two on Friday and two on Saturday. So those two days, that's about all I do. And in the evenings, then I'm really ready to prop my feet up and rest a little bit. But we also see students and their families all over campus. They're taking pictures. They're reminiscing about their experience, and so we do see a lot of families on campus, and certainly as we're out walking the dog and on campus have a chance to see some of those families as they celebrate their students' graduation. So it's just a wonderful time to be around.

Derek Smith:
Well, and we keep celebrating record classes and just great accomplishments from these students. How much do you feel that as you're on stage and you're smiling, you're taking a lot of pictures, and I know there's a certain rhythmic element to it, but how much do you feel that when you're up there on stage, just how big that moment is?

President Livingstone:
So I face the students as they come up the stairs to come and get their diploma, and they're always just so excited, and they're smiling, and they're relieved and looking forward to what's ahead. And to me, that's such a cool time. And honestly, like you said, I smile all the way through all four graduations. And honestly, my cheeks really hurt after the weekend because I've smiled so much. And I have people ask me, "Is it hard to do that from the first graduate to the last graduate?" And honestly, it's really not because one, they're all unique individuals. They've all done their own thing to get through, but they're also each and every one of them so excited that you just can't help be excited with them. So I hope the last graduate knows that I'm just as excited to see them cross the stage than I am the very first graduate. And I hope they see that I'm as happy for them and thrilled for them. But it's just a fun time, and I love seeing the families and having them cheer for their students, and it's just wonderful culmination of a year.

Derek Smith:
And for this class, it's unique culmination too because I mean, it's hard to believe, but this is the COVID class that we were talking about four years ago, preparing so hard for them to come to Baylor. Does that add an extra layer for you and really for everyone involved in that this year?

President Livingstone:
Well, this class is the one that did not have their high school graduation or their college graduation if they're graduate students. So this will be their first chance to actually be in a graduation ceremony for a long time. And so we take that pretty seriously, that we want it to go well. We want it to be a really special event for them. And then these students were in that fall 2020 class, many of them, that was a lot online and remote, and we did social distancing.
And again, just so thankful that these last really, probably the last two for sure, and even the last three years of their time here for their undergraduates were pretty normal. And they've been an unbelievably engaged group of students and very active. And I think that it has to be partly because they didn't get to do that their senior year in high school and some of their freshman year in college. So we're really proud of them for persevering and for having success, even in spite of all they went through. And I suspect it has created some resilience in them that will be beneficial to them through life.

Derek Smith:
Yeah. Whatever institution they're at, I feel like this class is going to be bonded when they talk 20, 30, 40 years from now.

President Livingstone:
Absolutely. They all managed through some really difficult times, so...

Derek Smith:
Visiting with President Livingstone, and President Livingstone, this year our record number of PhD students are going to walk the stage here. And as we think about why this is so meaningful for Baylor's future, what does that mean to you?

President Livingstone:
So one of the areas of focus and Illuminate was to grow our research profile. And part of that was becoming a Research One university. And one element of that is to grow your doctoral programs and your research doctoral programs. And so that's certainly been an effort that we've had. It's part of the reason we've reached Research One status early. And if you want to have a robust research culture, you have to have really strong doctoral programs to help support faculty doing research, and then frankly, to help support undergraduate and master's students who want to do research. So we're really proud of the growth in our research doctorates, and we love to see them cross the stage and be hooded. It just really exemplifies the tremendous work and effort they have put in for a number of years to get to this point. And it's a wonderful example for everyone in the audience and really illustrates some of the progress that we've made as a research university.

Derek Smith:
Exciting to see for sure as we visit with President Livingstone. And now maybe I'm asking you for what's a preview of your speech at the commencement ceremonies. What's your advice for this year's class?

President Livingstone:
Yeah. I always hope that when our students leave here that they really think seriously about the giftedness they have, the skills they've developed here, and how those map against needs they see in the world, and how they can take their skills to address needs in the world, whether that's in business or healthcare or education or the nonprofit sector, whatever it might be. And that they've developed skills, they've developed passions here that help them to really find a way in life where they not only are productive, but they're making a difference in the world. And that's certainly what I hope for our graduates.

Derek Smith:
Well, they certainly do. We're excited to see this year's class get that opportunity as they walk the stage and move out into the future as we visit with President Livingstone. And President Livingstone, let's shift here just a little bit. Let's talk about student honors because we've really been able to celebrate some exciting things here. This year, a record 16 Baylor students earned Fulbright Awards. Many others earned some prestigious Churchill Scholarships, Boren Scholarships, Goldwater Awards, and more. First off, what does that say about the quality of the students we have that they're setting marks like that?

President Livingstone:
Well, these awards that you mentioned are really national and international competitions, and so when we have records numbers of students receiving those awards, it indicates that our students are competing with the best and brightest students, not just across the country, but around the world. And so it's certainly a tribute to our students, but I think it's also a tremendous tribute to our faculty, the way they're preparing our students. And there's a lot of work that goes into applying for these scholarships, and we have faculty, staff and alumni that volunteer to help these students prepare for these scholarship applications and the interviews that go with them. So it's just really a broad university effort to support students in this, and we've had such success. This really, Betsy Vardaman started this program really supporting our students for scholarships years ago. When she retired, Andy Hogue, Dr. Andy Hogue took over that role and has just really built on Betsy's work and had tremendous success with our students in recent years. So we're really proud of the work that they do.

Derek Smith:
Well, I should probably preview here that on next week's show, we're going to have Andy Hogue and two of our recipients, one headed to Vietnam, one headed to South Korea, so we can-

President Livingstone:
Oh, gosh. That'll be a great-

Derek Smith:
... dive into that more. Yeah.

President Livingstone:
... great show. Everybody needs to listen to that one. It'll be fabulous-

Derek Smith:
Yeah. I hope they will. Yeah, there's some great students. And yeah, if they want to dive in a little more to what we're talking about now, that's a great place to do it. And we also mentioned that Baylor was recognized in February as a Fulbright top producing institution. Princeton, MIT, University of North Carolina are all part of that list. What does that say about Baylor?

President Livingstone:
Well, I think it just shows that we really are among the top universities in the country. And in U.S. News, we rank up there with them on some of the things like undergraduate research, first-year experience for our students. And we really are a unique place for students to come get an undergraduate experience, and we do that academically. We do that in terms of the student experience, and we wrap a Christian environment around that. And frankly, when you look at those lists that we're on, we're really the only significant Christian university that is on those lists with some of the top academic institutions in the country. So I think it shows not only our quality academically, but our uniqueness in terms of our Christian mission, how it contributes to the success of our students.

Derek Smith:
As we talk about this, there's one of the lists that we could look at that we have been ranked with some really great institutions. Time Magazine's 100 Best Colleges for Leaders this year, one of just 10 schools on the U.S. News, both their top 25 in research and teaching. Duke, Yale, Stanford are some others. Is thinking about who our peers are, I mean, obviously I think as alums, as fans, not just sports fans, but fans in general, we say, "Well, who are we up there with?" Is that something that we think about much institutionally? And if so, what does that look like as we see lists like this?

President Livingstone:
Well, we think about it a lot because who our peers are, who our aspirational schools are has a huge influence on data that we collect around student quality, recruitment of students, around faculty recruitment, faculty salaries, around just our academic programs, who we're competing against to recruit faculty, staff, students, both at the undergraduate and graduate level. And frankly, we've upped the bar a lot for ourselves in the last few years. We didn't used to be on lists with the schools that you just named. And when you're on those lists, it means that people want your people then because they know you're doing really great things there.
And so it really raises the bar for us to retain our faculty, to retain our staff. And frankly, even who you're competing against to recruit students is a different set of institutions now. And that's all good because it holds us to a higher bar and a higher standard. And it shows that we are continuing to improve as an institution, both academically in terms of the personal support we provide our students, and in terms of our Christian mission, given the uniqueness that that gives us within that set of schools.

Derek Smith:
Well, it's certainly exciting to see, and we know more honors will be continuing to pour in as we visit with President Livingstone here on Baylor Connections. And let's transition now to, as we head into the summer of 2024 and the fall, we're heading into an election season. We look in the news, there's global tensions that we feel here in the U.S. It feels like there's voices that are needed who could really speak in constructively to these things. What's Baylor's role in that?

President Livingstone:
Yeah. Well, and we're going to talk a little bit about the strategic plan, but one of the things we've really been leaning into this year, and you'll see it continue in theme in the strategic plan, is around civil discourse. And what role do we have as a Christian university in being a voice in the world to try to help bridge differences and bring people together in healthy and productive ways to solve problems? How do we prepare our students to go out into a world that is oftentimes very divided and to be people who seek to bring reconciliation and peace, not division? And so we've implemented a number of programs across campus. I think you've had Dr. Villegas on to talk about some of the work he's doing. And we think that's really important, and it's really grounded in our values as a Christian university, that we need to love our neighbor as ourselves.
And so what does that mean, especially when you disagree strongly with your neighbor? That we really need to be about reconciliation and healing, and what does that mean when we disagree strongly with people? And those aren't easy questions, but we think they're ones that at a Christian university, we should be struggling with, and we should be helping our faculty, staff, and students think about what that means for them and how they can live out those values, not just while they're on campus, but when they leave this place and go out into the world to do other things. So it's important to us, and I think at this time in the world, as we see the division around the world and certainly in our country, it's something that is desperately needed.

Derek Smith:
For sure. And do you have any practical thoughts as we think about equipping our students and our faculty, all of us here at Baylor, to speak into these tensions in a Christ-honoring manner? Practically, how do you take that from a vision to giving people things they can take with them?

President Livingstone:
Yeah. Well, I think one of the best things we can do is to really be curious about people. We tend to, as soon as we meet people, judge them based on what they think or look like or say as opposed to really being open to asking questions, listening to their perspective and trying to understand and hear truly what they think and why they think and what's driving it from a value perspective or a belief perspective.
And I think we would spend more time truly being curious about people, listening closely to them, and trying to understand them and be less judgmental in the process. We might still not agree with them, but I think we would find ways to bridge, we'd find maybe there's things we don't disagree as much on as we thought. And even on those things we don't agree on, we might have a better understanding of why those individuals believe what they do. And it might give us more empathy and understanding for them. And it's not easy to do. But I think that's certainly one thing that if we all got better at that, it would help with a lot of these issues.

Derek Smith:
Well, we'll look forward to, as you talked about, this is going to be a part of the new strategic plan rollout, and that'll be timely in the fall. We'll look forward to hearing and seeing more about that as we head into the fall as we visit with President Livingstone. And let's stay on the topic of the strategic plan. To what extent are you able to give us a sneak peek right now of what's forthcoming?

President Livingstone:
Well, we're really excited to present the strategic plan to the Board of Regents next week at their board meeting for affirmation, and then we will roll it out for the public in the fall. We're going to use the summer to begin working on rollout plans, implementation plans, and refining that. And then early in the fall, probably in fairly early September, we will begin to make that public and share it more broadly with folks. But I'm really excited about it. It builds on Illuminate, which really focused on our research profile, our educational experience, certainly continuing to grow our Christian mission, and then certainly some of the things we're doing in the arts and athletics.
But you'll see some of those themes continue. You will see really us begin to think about how do we truly become a world-class university and a university that continues to be strong in Texas, continues to be strong across the United States. But how do we truly lean into the impact we can have globally, particularly as a Christian university? So you'll see a lot of global focus. You'll see a lot of focus building on some of the research areas of strength we developed during Illuminate, as well as some new areas based on some of the strategic hires we've had with our endowed chairs in recent years. So I'm really excited about it. It will stretch us. It will, I think, have a great impact as we implement it, and we're excited for the Baylor family and others to come along beside us as we begin to implement that in the fall.

Derek Smith:
I know sometimes people, when there's a new plan coming, they might well, really... Aren't there any significant shifts or hard turns is... You used words like build, continue, stretch, grow. Is that more along the lines of what this is?

President Livingstone:
Oh, absolutely. Because we had such great success with Illuminate, and it really moved us forward dramatically in a number of areas. And so this plan really does start from where we are and say, how do we build on those strengths? How do we leverage the great success we had both with Illuminate and with the Give Light philanthropic campaign? And there will be new things in it, but they are not things that take us in a completely different direction. And this is really probably the first strategic plan in several that has really built from a time of unity and strength within the Baylor family. We've had other strategic plans that were built after really difficult, challenging times, and they were developed for a certain reason and they accomplished a certain thing. And now we have the opportunity to build from strength in a time of a lot of collaboration and unity and a sense of purpose where we're together on that. And I think that's where you have the greatest success. And so we have tremendous opportunity here to build on Illuminate and have even greater success with the next strategic plan.

Derek Smith:
We'll be excited to see that this fall and continue that momentum.

President Livingstone:
And I don't have a name for it yet, so that's a-

Derek Smith:
Okay.

President Livingstone:
... that's what you have to wait for, for the fall. We'll have a name for it, and we'll roll it out, and it'll be fun and exciting.

Derek Smith:
That will be fun. We'll look forward to that again as we head into the fall months and visiting with President Livingstone. Before we get to that though, let's talk about the summer. Let's take look at what's ahead because I think last year at this time, there was some really big things that garnered people's attention. The Hurd Welcome Center, Foster Pavilion was in the works. What does this summer, 2024, look like at Baylor as far as big things on people's minds?

President Livingstone:
Yeah. Well, we will continue some of our construction projects. The Honors College construction work that's being done with Alexander and Memorial Halls will be completed over the summer, and that's going to be a wonderful rollout next fall. So that's work that will continue. There's also work being done on the faculty space for Honors College, so that will be open in the fall. So when people come back, that will be new and exciting for them. The Fudge Football Development Center will open. I understand it's supposed to open by the time they start fall football practice in early August. So that will be open. We'll have a grand opening. We had a soft opening for the Foster Pavilion as we started in January, but that facility was not completed. And so we will have a grand opening for the Foster Pavilion and the Fudge Football Development Center in the fall.
So that will be fun for everybody to celebrate those two facilities again. And then we're always excited about a new class coming in, so we'll be orienting a new class and sending them to Line Camp through the summer. So that is going to be really exciting as well. So summer's always a busy time on campus. You do a lot of work on your facilities, you are bringing in your new class, so it keeps everyone busy. I know we sometimes say, "Oh, summer. You don't have much to do in the summer." It's like, no, summer's extremely busy in really preparing for the next fall every single year.

Derek Smith:
So these are summer plans here at Baylor. What about you and the First Gent? Are you all able to get away at all?

President Livingstone:
Well, we have an exciting summer planned. This is something we've been wanting to do since we came to Baylor. Then COVID hit and some other things came along, and we couldn't make it work in our summer plans. But this summer we're going to go to Europe, and the first part of the trip, we're going to spend time with several of our student groups that are traveling abroad. We'll be in Rome with a couple of groups for a few days. We'll go on an archeological dig in Italy for a day or two, then we will go to Florence where a couple of groups are doing a variety of interesting things. We'll then go to Madrid, spend some time with the groups, and then end up in Greece with a student group or two. And so we're really excited about that. It'll be a fun opportunity to spend time with students. And then we're going to take a little bit of time after that and visit a few of the Greek Isles. We've never been to that part of Europe before, and so we'll relax just a little bit before we come home.

Derek Smith:
Well, that'll be great. So visiting with students, a little time for yourselves. You get to immerse yourself in students' world quite a bit here on campus. Are you excited about getting to do that abroad here with these students?

President Livingstone:
Well, it'll be such a different experience. On campus, the students are really comfortable on campus. They live here, they eat here, they go to class every day, so they're very comfortable here. When you travel abroad, it's just such a different experience. The food's different. Sometimes the language is one you're not familiar with. You're traveling a lot, you're tired, you're hot. The cultures are different. And so I think it'll be interesting to see the students and how they adapt in that different culture. Sometimes that can be stressful, but also just to watch how it opens their eyes to the world and to new and interesting things that they've never experienced before. And so I just love that, and really in many ways wish all of our students could study abroad at some point because it is such a powerful experience to help you see the world differently and understand how others around the world live and work every day.

Derek Smith:
Now, that is exciting. That'll be fun for them. You can bring a little piece of campus to them as you visit with them. Maybe this is, you're going to visit some exciting places. Are there any places that you've never been that you're most excited to see?

President Livingstone:
Well, Brad and I have never been to Greece. Now, I've been to Spain. We're going to be in Madrid, and Brad has not, so he'll love that. But we've never been to Greece, so I'm really excited about that. And seeing Athens I hear is just amazing. And then of course, you see the images of the Greek Isles and just how beautiful it is. So, and you had that experience last summer with the women's basketball team so-

Derek Smith:
That's great, yeah.

President Livingstone:
... So we're really excited about that part of it too.

Derek Smith:
Well, that'll be a lot of fun. Hope it's safe travels for everyone and our students as well as they travel abroad. And here's, as we wind down, do you have any final thoughts really for our students as they head out for the summer? We talked about the graduates at the beginning. What about just our student body in general?

President Livingstone:
Well, we just pray for them to have a really amazing summer, whether they're working at internships or taking classes or working at camps, that they have an experience that really helps them grow and develop and gets them excited about coming back next fall. And we just also pray for a safe summer for everyone. So we wish them well and can't wait to see them again in the fall.

Derek Smith:
Well, we'll look forward to that. But in the meantime, hope it's a great summer for you. Hope it's a great summer for the Baylor family, and we'll talk to you again soon.

President Livingstone:
Thanks, Derek.

Derek Smith:
Thank you. Thanks so much for joining us. President Livingstone, our guest today on Baylor Connections. I'm Derek Smith. Reminder, you can hear this and other programs online at baylor.edu/connections, and you can subscribe on iTunes. Thanks for joining us here on Baylor Connections.